UP bypasses Los Angeles ramps to cut road congestion

UP bypasses Los Angeles ramps to cut road congestion    Union Pacific is set to bypass Los Angeles ramps in a move designed to reduce truck traffic in and out of downtown Los Angeles.
   International containers will continue to make the four-mile trip from the port to Union Pacific’s intermodal container transfer facility via truck. But once at the facility, containers will now be transferred to rail cars and then travel through the Alameda Corridor to destinations throughout the United States, Union Pacific said.
   Union Pacific estimates the change will eliminate about 500,000 truck trips annually from Los Angeles-area highways.
   In a related move, Union Pacific and the port of Los Angeles board of harbor commissioners is discussing expanding the intermodal container transfer facility, to handle an estimated 1.6 million marine containers annually, to cope with anticipated growth at San Pedro Bay ports.
   “An expanded ICTF will support port growth and promote increased use of the Alameda Corridor,” said John Kaiser, vice president and general manager of intermodal – marketing and sales for Union Pacific. “The expansion also would help control highway congestion and truck emissions by eliminating millions of future truck trips annually,” he added.